Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Costco vs Starbucks

Costco 4.9★ · Free to download 40
Winner Starbucks
Starbucks 4.9★ · Free to download 75

Starbucks offers a more reliable and feature-rich app experience for mobile ordering and rewards, while Costco's app struggles with fundamental functionality and user experience.

Full reviews: Costco · Starbucks

Starbucks' app provides a generally smooth experience for mobile ordering and earning rewards, despite some recent complaints about reward changes and occasional glitches. In contrast, Costco's app is frequently criticized for being slow, buggy, and lacking essential features, often performing more like a mobile website wrapper than a dedicated app.

Head to head

Features edge: StarbucksR10R13R15R22
Costco Costco users desire features like in-store scanning, Apple Watch integration for membership cards, and better shopping list functionality R15R32. Many also complain about the lack of a proper search function and difficulty finding items . The app is seen as a slow mobile browser rather than a true app, with limited in-app functionality for tracking orders or managing accounts R10R13R22.
Starbucks Starbucks users appreciate features like mobile ordering to skip lines, drink customization, and earning reward points . However, some recent updates have removed popular features like coupons and specific drink options . There are also requests for better refund options for incorrect orders and the ability to use multiple gift cards .
Ease of Use edge: StarbucksR1R3R4R7
Costco Costco's app is widely criticized for being slow, laggy, and difficult to navigate R4R13R22. Users report frequent freezing, crashing, and issues with loading items or completing checkout R1R3R4R7. Many find the UI old-fashioned and confusing, with critical functions hidden or requiring multiple sign-ins .
Starbucks Starbucks' app is generally found easy to use for ordering and earning rewards . However, some users experience issues with the app freezing, crashing, or having infinite loading screens, especially with poor internet connections . There are also complaints about the mandatory reload amounts for payment and the placement of reward options R79R87R90.
Reliability edge: StarbucksR1R4R7R8
Costco The Costco app is highly unreliable, with numerous reports of orders being cancelled without explanation, items not loading, checkout failures, and the app timing out R1R4R7R8. Updates often introduce more problems, making the app unusable for many R1.
Starbucks The Starbucks app generally functions well for mobile ordering, but users frequently encounter issues with mobile ordering being unavailable or orders not going through to the store instantly . Some users also report problems with the app charging reload amounts but not sending the order .
Price/Value tieR11R14R18R29
Costco Costco is praised for its quality products and great prices in general R11R14R29. However, some users note that online prices are not always the same as in-store prices, which can be misleading R18. The app itself doesn't offer direct monetary value beyond facilitating purchases.
Starbucks Starbucks users appreciate the ability to earn reward points and get free items R65. However, there's significant dissatisfaction with recent changes to the rewards program, including stars expiring quickly and the perceived difficulty in earning free drinks R64R65. Many also feel Starbucks products have become more expensive .
Support tieR8R10R22R37
Costco Costco users report issues with the app's feedback feature not working R22 and difficulty getting assistance for problems like cancelled orders R8 or account issues R10. One user noted that writing a review within the app was difficult due to sign-in requirements R37.
Starbucks Starbucks users have mixed experiences with support. Some found customer service helpful for bonus star issues R90, but others reported no help from online support when rewards and purchase history disappeared . There are also complaints about poor customer service for delivery issues, with inadequate refunds offered .
Pick Costco if

Pick Costco if you primarily need to browse items for large purchases or are already a loyal Costco member who values their bulk items and online shopping convenience for big, bulky items R29.

Pick Starbucks if

Pick Starbucks if you frequently purchase coffee and want to save time by mobile ordering, customize your drinks, and earn rewards, despite recent changes to the rewards program .

Evidence note: Costco's lifetime rating is high, but many recent reviews indicate significant dissatisfaction with the app's performance and functionality, suggesting a decline in user experience. Many positive reviews for Costco refer to the store experience rather than the app itself R11R14R29. Starbucks also has a high lifetime rating, but recent negative feedback focuses on changes to the rewards program and occasional mobile ordering glitches.

Frequently asked

Does the Costco app allow in-store scanning or self-checkout?
No, the Costco app does not currently offer in-store scanning or self-checkout features, a capability that many users desire and note is available in competitor apps R15R32.
Are Costco's online prices the same as in-store prices?
No, some Costco app users report that online prices are not always the same as in-store prices, which can be tricky if not realized R18.
Can I use the Starbucks app on older iPhone models?
Some users have reported that the Starbucks app no longer works on older iPhone models, such as the iPhone X with iOS 16, after recent updates R61R113.
Do Starbucks reward stars expire?
Yes, Starbucks reward stars do expire, with some users reporting losing stars after not using the app for a couple of months, leading to dissatisfaction R64R65R111.
Does the Starbucks app allow paying the exact order amount?
No, the Starbucks app often requires users to reload a minimum amount (e.g., $10 or $25) onto a digital card, rather than allowing payment of the exact order total, which is a point of frustration for many R79R87R90R101.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R10] Costco 2/5 · US Orders & Purchases Do Not Work: It’s a good app when it works. You can search items well. However, if you try accessing orders and purchases section from account, it struggles. I can never access it. 2% reward does not update too. Mine is stuck since last few months. Accounts section basically is useless for many things.
  2. [R13] Costco 1/5 · US Sluggish browser not app: This app is just a slow bulky mobile browser. It’s slow to load the cart and has to recover it from somewhere, not the application.
  3. [R15] Costco 3/5 · US Needs work: In store use of the app isn’t nearly as helpful as the Sam’s Club app. Being able to scan with the app would be a game changer
  4. [R22] Costco 1/5 · US Not an app = terrible user experience: BUILD AN ACTUAL APP, COSTCO! This is NOT an app. It’s a terrible wrapper around the standard Costco.com website and performs like a bug-ridden P.O.S. Half the time, product pages won’t open at all. The “feedback” feature doesn’t work at all. The pages load excruciatingly slow, and the “app” doesn’t work at all if you use a VPN. For a company as fantastic a
  5. [R1] Costco 1/5 · US Updated App is Bricked: With the latest app update I literally can't place an order anymore. There are steps where the app progress bar just endlessly cycles and will not complete the task. Never had this problem in prior versions.
  6. [R3] Costco 3/5 · US Buggy: When the app works it's fine. However, I find that it freezes quite often.
  7. [R4] Costco 2/5 · US Store is fantastic, app is inconsistent: This app crashes, won’t load items, fails to checkout, 50% of the time I use it…very slow, laggy, and leaves much to be desired.
  8. [R7] Costco 2/5 · US What’s happening with this app?: The app has become mostly unusable. Can’t look up orders, previous purchases or even shop without it timing out before opening.
  9. [R8] Costco 4/5 · US Cancelled orders: Fix your problem with always canceling orders for no reason or explanation and it would deserve 5 stars…
  10. [R11] Costco 5/5 · US Love: Been a member since 1996. Love this place. Quality food and prices.
  11. [R14] Costco 5/5 · US Reasonable price great things: We live Costco
  12. [R18] Costco 3/5 · US Like the app but…: Wish prices were the same as in store. It’s tricky if you don’t realize….
  13. [R29] Costco 5/5 · US LOVE THE BULK ITEMS!!: I ALWAYS find DEALS!!!!
  14. [R37] Costco 1/5 · US Moronic: Write a review in this app. Try post it. You can’t without entering your member number, despite being signed in, and you can’t get to your member number without losing everything you just wrote. Do the developers actually use or test the software for usability? So instead of reviewing the product I am here reviewing the app.
  15. [R32] Costco 4/5 · US Self Checkout Needed: I love Costco but when is the brand going to update to more modern features like self checkout that I can do from my mobile phone? This is the one reason I still shop at Sam’s- you can scan as you shop and be on your way. No stressful lines overflowing with impatient people. Please please please think about implementing this feature.
  16. [R61] Starbucks 1/5 · US No longer works on older iPhones: No longer works on iPhone X with iOS 16, so won’t be purchasing coffee from Starbucks until I get a new phone in a few months.
  17. [R113] Starbucks 1/5 · US App not loading: Recently the Starbucks app stopped working. It was redownloaded and would not even open now. It seems like the app is upgraded geared towards a newer IOS. Whatever it was doing before was fine so not sure why the change.
  18. [R64] Starbucks 1/5 · US Reward Program: Very disappointed that Starbucks has changed their rewards policy. I’ve lost 300 stars because I haven’t used the app in 2 months. I feel like there should be a better way of doing this, stars should never expire considering the money was spent. Makes me not want to use the app. Especially after changing the 2x stars with pre loading a card. What’s the point of loading a card if I
  19. [R65] Starbucks 5/5 · US Stars: You get deals and can preorder and see what drinks there are and get stars for free stuff but the stars disappear that’s why I didn’t put 5 star
  20. [R111] Starbucks 1/5 · US Points Expire: Ridiculous how quickly points expire. Stupid you cannot load the exact amount of money on your card, who wants to add $20 to a Starbucks account (just providing free loan to Starbucks) None of the stores know how to make matcha or cold foam, emailed a complaint and even though I have pictures they wouldn't do anything about it because I wasn't given a receipt
  21. [R79] Starbucks 1/5 · US Just let me pay for my order: You shouldn’t have to add funds greater than your order. Just let me pay for my order like literally every other fast food app.
  22. [R87] Starbucks 3/5 · US It’s great but…: Starbucks is great their drinks are amazing but i don’t like how when ordering off the app online the reload card is strange. My order was only $5 plus tax, it took $10 dollars off of my card and didn’t give me an option to just pay the regular price.
  23. [R90] Starbucks 3/5 · US Mandatory Reload: So far everything good I had an issue with bonus stars but I call to the customer service an they help me. I tried tu purchase on the app with a. Gift card a friend gave me but it wouldn’t let me pay the difference which was 5 dollars instead I have to reload mandatory 10 dollars minimum. Other than that everything is working good
  24. [R101] Starbucks 2/5 · US Maintain card reload levels as already set!: Don’t make us pay more than we want to into your payment system. I had my reload level preset to $10, yet it defaulted again to $25. When we’re in the drive-thru line, scrambling to pay before our turn, and we’ve just woken up, this is one last irritation to help us avoid this negative feeling. You’re going to get our money anyway…! Don’t be messing

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store